Fit For Life: “Full Effort is Full Victory” - Gandhi

Saturday, October 10, 2015

Matt Espeut, GoLocalPDX Health +Lifestyle Contributor

It was Monday afternoon, and the high school football team I work with was 3-0. As I approached them at practice I could see that they were expecting a celebratory talk from me, but that's the last thing I was thinking about. I went over to the group and started clapping. I clapped and said "here's to a win, fellas" but after about 10 seconds I yelled out "that's enough". I told them that being 3-0 was no reason to celebrate, due to the mediocre play they were exhibiting. Out of those three wins, only one was hard fought against a tough division team. The other two wins were over smaller, lower division teams that we took lightly, and just squeezed by. We were SUPPOSED to win those games, and we didn't play to our fullest potential. That's where my frustration sets in. We are a great team, with lots of talent, but we are disorganized, and lack drive, discipline, and focus, and that could cost us this season if we don't change our attitude.

‘Good enough’ isn’t any good at all.

Whether it be sports, business, fitness, or just everyday life, I feel that doing " just enough" to scrape by is unacceptable. If you invest time, money, blood, sweat and tears into something, it's worth putting in 100% - your all out effort. When you do this, I think you will ALWAYS get a better return on your investment. I told this to my team, that it all starts right here on the field. If we don't go out and play to our fullest potential on every play, down, and in every game, someone will come along and blow us off the field. I tell them that if this "just get by" attitude continues when they get older, that they will always be struggling to get by with everything they do. That they will live paycheck to paycheck and never accumulate wealth, or create a surplus of money, because "just enough" won't allow it. I feel this way with my clients also. When you join my gym, you are not paying for workouts, you are paying for results. You are paying for leadership and coaching to get you to your goals. You are paying for someone to hold you accountable . You are paying to belong to a community of like minded individuals all striving for the same thing ... Outcome!! And when people make a monetary investment with me, I encourage them to give 100%. Just showing up isn't enough, and the most important work is done outside the gym. After you invest your sweat and hard work exercising your body, you need to exercise discipline, and eat the right foods, and make sure you are getting enough sleep to recover. I encourage my clients that doing the bare minimum won't cut it, and you have to put in the time to prepare, and execute, to get favorable results. It's harder and requires more work, but the end result is worth it.

It’s 100% or bust.

I don't only preach this philosophy to my team and clients, I try to live it myself. I have been running my new business for exactly one year now, and to many it seems I am successful. But not me. I feel that I am operating well beneath my potential, and that bothers me. It's not due to lack of hard work, it's due to experience. I am striving to get better everyday. Instead of resting with the things I am doing right, I am obsessed with correcting the things I am doing wrong. I know that when I accomplish this, the return on my investment will be much greater, and I will become much more successful. So weather it's sports, fitness, or business you are investing in, my advice is to go all out, and give 100% of yourself to accomplish your goals. If you do this, you will become unstoppable, and you will succeed every time, and the return on your investment will be far greater than if you do something half way. If it's worth doing, to you, you will find a way. If it's not that important, you will find an excuse! Hard work and discipline are the main ingredients to achievement, and we will only get paid when the work is completed!

Matt Espeut, GoLocal's Health & Lifestyle Contributor has been a personal trainer and health & fitnesss consultant for over 25 years.

Related Slideshow: The 7 Best Health and Fitness Apps

Here is a list of some of the most obsession worthy health apps.

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MapMyRun

MapMyRun is the number one selling running app for a reason: it is easy to use, offers community support if you want it, and tracks and stores your exact routes for you. If you are training for a race or a serious runner, users say that the extra perks in the upgraded paid version are well worth it.

Made for iPhone, Android and Blackberry

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MyFitnessPal

MyFitnessPal seems to be the clear favorite amongst everyone polled. It is helpful not only for the fitness tracking aspect, but everyone polled mentioned how much they loved the food/diet aspect as well. From carb counting for diabetics to recipe ideas to complement your fitness goals, users love this app.

Made for iPhone and Android

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JeFit

JeFit is another fitness app that has rave reviews. It not only tracks progress for you, but offers a huge database of workouts. While many apps offer community support, JeFit allows you to sync workouts with friends who use the app, offering a (real) virtual buddy system.

Made for iPhone and Android

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Strava

Strava gets the highest mark of all the cycling apps. While it is also great for runners, the cyclers seem particularly inclined towards the fierce competition that can be ignited by this app. You can track all of your rides via GPS, then you can compare your efforts to those logged by others in the community on the same stretch of road. You can also join ongoing challenges that can net you great prizes (in addition to bragging rights).

Made for iPhone and Android

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YogaStudio

YogaStudio gets the top vote for Yoga apps. It has a lengthy collection of full class-length videos available at your fingertips. Unlike many other apps, this one also allows you to customize your own video yoga class. All of the poses are done by qualified yoga instructors, and you can find classes suitable for all levels of yogis.

Made for iPhone only

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SimplyBeing

SimplyBeing meditation app offers the best of both worlds. You can choose to run this app as a background for your meditation with soothing music or natural sounds that run for a set amount of time. Conversely, for those of you who have trouble focusing during meditation, you can choose a soothing voice-guided meditation.

Made for iPhone and Android

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Fooducate

Fooducate is an app all about educating people so that they make healthier food choices. Although not perfect, this app is easy to use (you can even take pictures of bar codes to instantly find foods in their database). It gives food a letter grade, tells you the pluses and minuses, and gives you better ranked alternatives. You can also use it as a weight loss tool by tracking your daily calories.

Made for iPhone and Android